Hell's Reign (Patrick Stump/Fall Out Boy Fanfiction)

Chapter 8 - We're a Family Now

                  

It had been a week since the incident with Aaron. Victoria wasn't any better, it seemed, and the group had stopped at two other houses. Pete had found his family similar to Tori's, and Andy had found his mother missing without a trace. Joe had opted not to look inside the house when he found his street just as infested at the last few. Patrick was the only one who still hadn't seen his family or his home. At the moment, Pete was sitting beside him in the back of the van, looking at him as he waited for an answer to a question he had asked. Did Patrick want to head for Glenview next?

            Patrick turned to look at him, but his eyes focused at the other end of the back of the van. Sitting against the doors with her knees drawn up to her chest, Tori was staring out the back window; The left one, as the right window had to be boarded up a few days ago after Pete put a zombie through it. There was a slight draft coming from that window, the only solace against the nearly unbearable heat. The air conditioning was going as well, and as Patrick listened to the rattling of it, he knew they were soon going to need a new place to live out of.

            "Lunchbox," Pete said again, referring to a nickname he had given to Patrick a while ago. The latter turned his head fully then. "What do you think? Glenview?"

            Patrick hesitated a moment, staring at Pete with something between a frown and hopefulness. Pete was frowning because he knew what Patrick was thinking, and Patrick simply looked away again. However, before he could think too far into it on his own, another voice broke the silence within the van. "You'll regret it if you don't," Tori stated, her eyes unmoving from the window.

            Patrick stared at her sullenly, a part of him wishing they had never taken her home to that awful scene. Then, he looked down at his shoes and pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth, biting down slightly until it started to hurt. Finally, he looked back up at Pete. "Yeah," he sighed, "Glenview. And when that's over, we find a place to stay? We can't live in this van forever." With that, Patrick leaned his head back against the seats and closed his eyes. Pete stared at him for a long while, the tone of Patrick's voice assuring him that his best friend had already given up hope.

            They kept driving, with Joe and Andy eventually switching off driving around eight at night. Pete moved up to the middle row of seats to stretch his legs out, and eventually handed out a few chunks of bread to everyone for dinner. Soon after, he passed out on his back, his snoring being the only sound in the van besides the rattling of the air conditioning.

            Patrick laid out a larger blanket on the floor of the van, folding it over so that it fit the floor better, and then set out two pillows beside each other. The blanket provided minimal cushioning to the hard floor of the van, but Patrick decided it was good enough for what he wanted to do. He laid down and looked over at Victoria who was still, after all these hours, staring blankly out the window of the van. "Tori," he stated, making her turn her head slowly towards him. Silently, he beckoned her over to lay down on the bed he had made, hoping she would get the rest she so desperately needed. Instead, Tori shook her head.

            "I'm not tired," she told him, turning back to the window.

            Patrick laid down anyways, tucking one arm under his pillow. "Then don't sleep," he mumbled, "Just come here and lay with me for a bit." He closed his eyes halfway, but he could still see Tori's curious look from behind his eyelashes. He smirked slightly and pulled the blanket back for her, patting the space beside him.

            With a sigh that he supposed was meant to signal her annoyance with him, she crawled over and laid down, sliding her legs beneath the blanket and keeping a friendly distance between the two of them. Patrick opened his eyes again and looked at her as she laid facing him, on her side with one arm under her pillow, mirroring his position. She looked back at him for a moment, her eyes focused on his, and then she closed them and took a deep breath.